The African Climate Justice Group wants African governments and institutions to respond urgently to the joint climate, health and COVID-19 crises facing Africa.
The made this assertion in a statement that has to date been endorsed by over 300 African and international organisations and individuals.
The Climate Justice Group has held a week of action that began with a mail storm to key continental institutions including the United Nations Environment Programme, African Ministerial Conference on the Environment (AMCEN), United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, African Development Bank Group (AfDB), World Health Organisation Africa Region (WHO-AFRO), subregional institutions, and national governments.
The Climate Justice Group’s call for action includes demands for: support essential services, food, water and healthcare system; a stop to all fossil fuel and extractive projects and preserve human rights among others.
According to the statement, “The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed and is exacerbating existing inequalities in the globalised neo-liberal and patriarchal socio-economic system. Cascading social and economic crises are developing and, across Africa, a major food crisis may be looming as informal markets are shut down and African livelihoods are being impacted.
“Along with this, the climate crisis continues to ravage the African continent and so many parts of the world. Both the COVID-19 and the climate crises are human-made, rooted in the way our political and economic systems driven by the lust for profit, treat the Earth and her people.”
The Climate Justice Group alleged that “Transnational corporations (TNCs), in collusion with African governments and other elites, operate with impunity and with disregard for people and the planet. Their activities have impacted livelihoods of local communities by grabbing lands and capturing natural resources, including through carbon markets and other harmful false solutions.
“They have polluted our air, water, lands, bodies and communities. Structural adjustments, austerity measures, dismantling of the state and of public services, cuts to social services, privatization of essential services and indebtedness, have ensured that African states have the least amount of readiness to respond to crises. This is rooted in the African colonial and post-colonial history and our relationship with neoliberal finance institutions like the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank that have pushed large loans with high interest rates on the back of structural adjustment conditionalities.”
YOU SHOULD NOT MISS THESE HEADLINES FROM NIGERIAN TRIBUNE
Social Investment Fund: Reps Summon Adeosun, Ahmed, Farouq, Others Over N1.7trn Allocation
FORMER Minister of Finance, Mrs Kemi Adeosun and the incumbent Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs Zainab Ahmed, are expected to appear before the House of Representatives over N1.7 trillion appropriated for the implementation of National Social Investment Programme (NSIP) from 2016 to September 2019. Also expected to appear is the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Sadiya Umar Farouq; incumbent and former permanent secretaries, desk officers involved in the implementation of the programmes in both ministries as well as the National Social Investment Office…
PTF Extends Phase Two Eased Lockdown By Four Weeks
The Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 has extended the current phase two eased lockdown by another four weeks. The phase started on June 1, 2020. The extension followed the approval of recommendations made by the PTF to President Muhammadu Buhari. The Chairman of the task force and Secretary to Federal Government of the Federation (SGF), Mr Boss Mustapha, stated this at Thursday’s press briefing in Abuja. saying that there are however some amendments to the phase…
SEE THE APPOINTMENT LETTER: Bauchi Governor Gets SA On Unmarried Women Affairs
In a resolve to monitor and regulate the activities of single ladies in the state, Bauchi State Governor, Senator Bala Mohammed Abdulkadir has appointed Balaraba Ibrahim as his Special Assistant (SA) on Unmarried Women Affairs. The appointment of the SA was contained in a letter signed by the Secretary to the State Government, Mohammed Sabiu Baba copies of which was made available to journalists in Bauchi on Thursday…
Industrial Unrest Looms In University System, NASU, SSANU Warn
The varsity workers, under the auspices of the Joint Action Committee (JAC) of the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) and the Non-Academic Staff Union of Universities and other Associated Institutions (NASU), said on Thursday that they would immediately commence a nationwide strike as soon as the university system reopens after the COVID-19 lockdown…